Are cell phones killing bees?

Swiss researcher says electromagnetic fields cause bees to become disoriented, depart hives and never find way back

Waterloo Region Record

Taking a phone call while admiring cherry blossoms might seem innocent enough, but it could be harming nearby honeybees, according to a new study.

The electromagnetic fields from cellphones cause bees to become disoriented, depart their hives, and never find their way back again — leaving them to eventually die, Swiss researcher Daniel Favre wrote in the study.

But one bee expert in Toronto says this type of work is “nonsense” and more research should be done on the effects of agriculture on bees instead.

Swiss researchers did 83 experiments to record bees’ reactions to cellphones that were turned off, put on standby, and being used to make a call. Two phones were placed inside five separate hives, so they could call each other while near the bees.

The result? Honeybees increased their noises by 10 times when a phone call was made or received.

A noise increase, called “worker piping,” is not unusual, but not of this magnitude, the study noted.

Bees typically create more noise as a signal to leave a hive if it is disturbed. About 43 per cent of all “bee losses” occur when the insects do not make it back, the study says.

“The induction of honeybee worker piping by the electromagnetic fields of mobile phones might have dramatic consequences in terms of colony losses due to unexpected swarming,” Favre wrote in the report.

The queen bee, however, did not leave the hive during the experiments.

Professor Peter Edward Hallett, a bee and wasp expert at the University of Toronto, said research on the effect of cellphones on bees has been ongoing for years.

“It’s nonsense by another bee scientist,” he told the Star. Cellphones, he added, have been “developed for human use,” so they are not dangerous.

He said it is more important to study the effect of agriculture and construction on bees’ habitats and the “huge economic demand” humans place on them to help pollinate more crops.

The cellphone study is part of the larger issue of declining bee populations around the world.